Because it would be so easy to sink into those feelings of warmth and protection and coupledom she’d been trying to fight all evening.

  She and Chase weren’t a couple. It didn’t matter they’d shared those moments of awareness when they not only felt like partners, but where it was also the two of them against the world.

  Those flashes of awareness and attraction had happened in his office as well as on the dates they’d faked throughout the week. But tonight, with his family, it hadn’t just felt right, it had felt real.

  Deeply real.

  Whatever she’d expected going into this job, never, not in a million years, would she have said she was at risk of losing her head or her heart over Chase Colton.

  Yet here she was, imagining herself in his arms and tossing all personal and professional restraint to the wind.

  “My family really liked you. My phone’s been going off since we got in the car and I suspect it’s a string of texts from my sisters telling me how awesome you are.”

  “They’re pretty great, too.” With those lingering thoughts of professionalism still running through her mind, Sloan added, “Glad to know we did such a good job of fooling them.”

  The temperature in the car changed immediately and Sloan was happy to see the turnoff for the street that ran in front of her apartment building. She was more than willing to own the fact that she’d tossed their professional relationship at him like a hand grenade, but really, what other choice did she have?

  Sitting here, nestled all snug and warm in his car, was hardly the way she needed to behave with a client. Better to keep it business.

  All business.

  “We certainly did.”

  His voice was flat, a sure sign she’d hit the nerve she was aiming for. That her shot had ricocheted back and was currently doing a bit of damage inside her own chest was the logical outcome.

  Just something she’d have to deal with.

  It was also an important reminder that she needed to stay engaged in the work.

  Chase said nothing more, and in moments was turning into her parking lot, navigating to the row of spaces in front of her building. He’d barely put the car in Park when she was unsnapping her seat belt and pushing out of the car in one burst of speed.

  She needed to get away from him and all this misplaced emotion and just get inside.

  Once she was inside, she’d be fine.

  She could regroup with her computer and her files and her work and put all of this out of her head.

  It was a good plan. A solid one, if only she had the ability to move more quickly.

  But suddenly Chase was there, standing in front of her as she rounded the front of the car.

  He was big, somehow seeming even bigger as he blocked the stretch of sidewalk she had to navigate to get to the stairs for her second-floor entrance. Yet for all his size, there wasn’t anything threatening about him.

  Instead, all she saw was about six feet two inches of hurt. Oh, he kept it leashed—coiled, really—but she saw it there all the same.

  The man was in a vulnerable state, with the changes in his life upending everything he thought he knew.

  And it was for all those reasons she had to get away. She couldn’t let that vulnerability sneak beneath her own defenses. Nor could she let herself think that this temporary reprieve they were taking from their normal lives to playact a relationship, as well as hunt down a criminal inside his company, was real.

  Or maybe, more importantly, had a pathway to becoming real.

  He’d created this facade specifically because he didn’t want romantic entanglements in his life.

  “Thank you for a lovely evening. I really did enjoy meeting your family.”

  “I can walk you to your door.”

  “It’s just up there.” She pointed toward the stairs. “I’m fine. Really.”

  He nodded, but she wasn’t sure he’d heard her. Instead, he continued to look at her, full of that vulnerability and awareness that had shaken her to her core.

  “You said something. Earlier.”

  She’d said a lot of things, so instead of responding, she just waited for him to continue.

  “When I overheard you talking to Sarah. She told you that she felt like an interloper. And that why would I, or any of my siblings, really, want to have a relationship with someone whose very existence proved the lies we were told.”

  Whatever conversation she’d expected him to bring up, her discussion with Sarah wasn’t it. Those moments she’d spent with his half sister had been a surprise, for all Sarah had been willing to discuss with a virtual stranger. But they’d also given her a better sense of what the entire family was dealing with.

  Like a kaleidoscope, they all were crystals in the same lens. But shifting through each perspective painted a different story.

  “She did say that.”

  “But it was what you said in return that meant something. That she and Nate were dealing with the consequences of our parents’ secret as much as anyone else.”

  “It’s true. I think it’s because I have the benefit of distance, but I can see the terrible disservice done to you. To all of you. I can’t imagine the pain or the raw fury of it all. And it makes me angry for you.”

  She sighed but pressed on. “Despite the fact that it’s not my place to feel that way.”

  “Not your place?”

  An evening breeze whipped up, proof that the days might be warm, but the Idaho nights were rapidly cooling. She wrapped her arms around her waist and tried to convince him she was right.

  “This is a job. One you’re paying me to do.” Sloan pointed once again in the direction of her apartment. “You’re even putting me up and paying my expenses. It’s very much a job.”

  “You’re human. You’ve got eyes and ears, and you’re entitled to build opinions based on what you see and hear.”

  “No, actually, I don’t. In the confines of my work, I have to find answers. That’s all I’m entitled to.”

  “That’s BS.”

  “No, Chase, it’s the truth. I have no right to an opinion on your circumstances. Whatever else this is, I have no illusions about that.”

  Wasn’t that what she’d been trying to tell herself from the start?

  That she didn’t have a right to an opinion. About what Robert and Jessie did to their families. About how their children handled what came after that terrible revelation. Not even about how it affected each of them, collectively or individually.

  But now, she’d crossed a line. Sure, she’d gone this evening at his request and under the ploy they were perpetrating to get beneath the issues at Colton Properties, but now that she’d gotten to know Chase and some of his family members, it rankled—that decision they’d made to lie to everyone.

  More than she could ever have guessed.

  She was here for work.

  A job.

  Each time she’d chafed at his words that suggested the same it had been because she’d forgotten that.

  His brush-off about her bringing wine.

  Or that feeling that she was staff.

  Even tonight and what his family had unknowingly shared with her.

  Somehow, that had been the worst. Because they’d spoken to her with openness and honesty, and it would be one more betrayal when it all came out she was there at their family function as an imposter.

  “Of course, you have a right. Our situation is on full display.”

  “Your situation is one you didn’t make. It’s a problem created by others that you, your siblings, your cousins—” she waved a hand “—have all had to clean up. More, what you all have to find a way to live with.”

  He moved closer, and where she expected their disagreement to continue, he reached out instead and pressed a hand to her cheek.

  “You’re so compassionate. And strong. And you make me feel like we will get through this as a family.”

  “You will.” She put her hand over his, knowing she had no right to lean into the warmth, yet unable to pull away. “You all will.”

  “Thank you for being here.”

  It’s a job.

  This isn’t real.

  These moments can’t be.

  Each of those thoughts bombarded her, yet even as they did, Sloan knew the truth.

  She could no more pull away than ignore these growing feelings of attraction.

  And for however long she was here—and realistically, she knew it wasn’t long—she couldn’t deny her attraction to Chase.

  As he lifted his other hand, cradling her other cheek oh-so gently, she accepted that truth.

  And when his lips came down over hers, a small sigh escaped from the back of her throat.

  She could argue over and over that this wasn’t right, or smart, or professional, but she could no longer say it wasn’t real.

  Chapter 8

  Sloan.

  Chase pressed his lips against hers, something so profoundly right welling up in his chest as her mouth opened beneath his.

  He wanted her.

  It no longer mattered how she got here or why she was here. Nor did it matter what secrets they were trying to unearth.

  Right now, there was only one secret that mattered.

  Discovering the woman in his arms.

  Questions had haunted him for months now. About his life. His family. His very foundation.

  All of it cracked and crumbled and faded to dust as he pulled her closer, taking the kiss deeper.

  Sloan responded, her mouth opening beneath his. Her arms came around his waist and he pulled her even closer. The feel of her in his arms, pressed against his chest, was deeply satisfying after nearly a week of fighting how he felt.

  She was everything he’d ever wanted in a partner. Responsive. Engaged. And deeply in the moment with him.

  It was a soothing balm after so many months of questioning all he believed.

  And it was an exciting push forward with a woman who both challenged him and helped him see his way to the future.

  And...

  With a sudden tug of awareness, Chase pulled back.

  What was he thinking?

  Yes, he wanted her. He’d be lying to say otherwise. But there was so much unsettled in his life. So much to still figure out.

  He’d spent the better part of a decade actively avoiding relationships and suddenly he was thinking differently.

  Acting differently.

  And forgetting that there was nothing to be gained from traveling down that relationship path other than pain.

  Sloan stared up at him, the depths of her dark brown eyes nearly black in the light of the overheads that dotted the parking area.

  “Chase, I—”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  He glanced down, realizing that he still had her pressed to his chest, and hastily moved back.

  “I shouldn’t have done that. You’re my client and it was unprofessional of me and—”

  He cut her off, laying a finger to her lips. It shocked him how much that small touch cost him, the desire to pull her back against him and continue their sensual exploration of one another raging through him like an inferno.

  But he held himself back.

  “You’re not unprofessional and you don’t need to apologize. It’s been a busy week and it was an intense evening. Maybe we can chalk it up to a moment of indiscretion and leave it at that?”

  She seemed to consider his words as he dropped his hand back to his side, before coming to a decision.

  “I’ve lost my objectivity.”

  “Sloan, don’t do this. You haven’t lost anything.”

  She shook her head, her smile soft. “I have. And I’m not quite sure if that’s good or bad or just a new experience. I’ve always kept a distance with my work, keeping the case firmly in place in my mind. And with you, with your family—”

  She broke off once more, obviously searching for the words before pushing on.

  “I care about you and your family. I care about what happens to you all. Your situation is unique, and I can’t help but feel that you deserve better, Chase. And I feel the same for your siblings and your cousins, too. You all deserved better.”

  “I’m working on that part myself.”

  “I know. Which is the real reason I’m sorry. You need the proper distance to process what’s happening. We set up this plan with a specific goal in mind. Allowing me to hide in plain sight.”

  Chase remembered their discussions as they’d set up her assignment at Colton Properties and had to admit to himself just how shortsighted he’d been.

  It was the plan they’d hatched, yes. But it was also the whole situation, requiring him to spend time in close proximity to a woman he found fascinating.

  He’d forgotten how lovely it was to enjoy an evening with someone, sharing conversation over dinner. Or sitting beside someone at a family event, laughing through stories and ordinary, everyday conversation.

  Or even the simplicity of driving home with someone.

  He’d spent so much of his adult life alone, keeping his “relationships” to nothing more than lone evenings, sharing a few hours of time and intimacy. It was only now, when he experienced that real intimacy of day-to-day life, that he acknowledged all he’d been missing.

  Moreover, it was about all he’d shut himself off from.

  He’d chosen his bachelor lifestyle for a reason. He wasn’t cut out for marriage. He’d proved that to himself quite clearly with Leanne.

  He didn’t feel anything had changed—he still wasn’t cut out for forever with anyone. But Sloan’s arrival in his life had shown him just how much he’d been missing.

  And it only sharpened the ache that had settled deep inside at the knowledge she’d soon be gone.

  * * *

  Saturday morning dawned dark and rainy, and Chase was surprised to realize how neatly it fit his mood.

  He’d walked Sloan up to her apartment the night before—he’d do nothing less no matter how awkward those few moments after their kiss had become—and then hightailed it for home.

  But the distance from her hadn’t helped.

  He’d fought against the lingering taste of her on his lips, yet no amount of inward admonishment or the glass of Scotch he’d had once he got home could erase it. And the sensation of cradling her in his arms, their bodies pressed together, seemed to have imprinted on his skin.

  He could feel her.

  When he’d dreamed of her, too, leaving him raw and achy at five in the morning, he’d realized sitting around the house by himself all weekend wasn’t a smart idea. But for the first time in a long while, he had zero interest in going into the office and working off his frustration.

  Which meant he needed to get out of the house and go somewhere.

  After a quick shower and breakfast, he headed out, calming a bit as he drove through the entrance to the Colton Ranch.

  The ranch had been like a second home growing up. Even the simple act of driving up to the ranch house had given him a few moments of ease from his unsettled thoughts.

  Greg stood out on the front porch, drinking his coffee beneath the overhang, and waved as Chase pulled up.

  In a matter of moments, Chase was running up the front steps, trying to minimize his exposure to the rain.

  “Good morning!” Greg smiled and Chase didn’t miss the small shot of knowing in the man’s brown eyes.

  “Hey there.”

  They shook hands and at what must have been a longing stare at Greg’s coffee mug, his cousin gestured him toward the house. “I need a refill and you look like you need a cup. We’ll catch up inside.”

  “How’d you know I want to catch up?”

  “Because it’s barely nine o’clock and if you were okay, you’d be at home with Sloan instead of looking like a grizzly bear here with me.”

  Chase considered making an excuse, one nearly falling off his lips, when he stopped himself.

  He was tired of the lies.

  And he was tired of how his current situation had made him question what he could or couldn’t say to his family.

  Sloan was close to figuring out what was wrong at Colton Properties and maybe it was time he eased up a bit and talked to someone he trusted.

  And despite his wholly inappropriate streak of possessive jealousy last night, Greg was one of his closest confidants.

  “She’s at home, exactly where she belongs.”

  Greg glanced over from where he’d pulled another mug from the cabinets. “Why does she belong there?”

  “Because she’s not my girlfriend.”

  Greg’s eyes widened, the slight thunk of the mug on the counter his only response.

  “She’s an independent contractor I’ve hired to look into some problems at Colton Properties.”

  Greg recovered quickly, filling the fresh mug along with his second cup before speaking. “So you started dating and you broke up?”

  “No, the dating’s a fake-out to allow her to come and go at Colton Properties.”

  “You can’t just give her a key?”

  A small smile twitched at the edge of Greg’s lips and for the first time Chase had to admit what had seemed like a solid idea when they’d hatched it did have elements of the absurd.

  “This isn’t funny. And if I let the office know she was there on a job, people would want to know what for.”

  His cousin gestured them toward the kitchen table, then took a seat. “I can see that. I might not have any interest in riding a desk all day, but I can see where someone coming into that environment would get asked questions.” Greg took a sip of his coffee before something serious replaced the smile. “But why us? Why lie to the family?”

  “There are a few more of us lately. I didn’t—”

  Chase stopped, unwilling to take the easy out.